Casing drying means



c. T. WALTER 2,260,244

CAS ING DRYING MEANS Oct. 21, 1941.

Original Filed Nov. 2l, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet l lnventor A 7 TES l by Z Gttorneg Oct. 2l, 1941. c. T. WALTER CASING DRYING MEANS 3 sheets-sheet 2 Original Filed Nov. 2l, 1936 ZJO I, :inventor A T T E s T A bl] I if@ C` @uw (Ittorneg Patented Oct. 21, 1941 UNITE-D STATES PATENT OFFICE CASING DRYING MEANS charles T. Walter, chicago, 111'assignor to Industrial Patents Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware 7 Claims.

This invention relates to a casing drying means.

This application is a division of my application, Serial No. 112,178, led November 2l, 1936, noW matured into Patent No. 2,148,885 of Feb. 28, 1939, entitled Drying casings.

One of the objects of the'invention is to provide an improved casing drying means.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for drying casings for printing.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the description and claims which follow.

In order to print natural sausage casings Which are derived from intestines of edible animals, it is necessary to process the casings to a comparatively dry, smooth condition.

The vpresent invention is applied to casings which have been processed in the usual manner as by stripping, desliming and defatting.

It is conventional practice to pack` casings, after cleaning, in Wet salt for storage before the casings are used in the manufacture of sausage. Excessive salt is removed by a Water bath and the casings stuffed out in a Wet condition.

In Aorder to prepare the casings for printing as Where it is desired to print the casings in accordance with the teachings of my Patent No. 2,054,148 entitled Sausage `and casing therefor, or in accordance with the teachings of my copending application entitled Treatment of' casings, Serial No. 23,664, led May 27, 1935, it is necessary to dry the casings to a comparatively dry,.smooth condition.

The present invention will be described by way of illustration, but not by Way of limitation, as applied to the drying of beef mddles and similar casings.

When casings are dried in contact With solid material, the membrane tends to adhere rmly to the solid material, rendering it difcult to remove the dried casing from the stripping means. Although this difficulty may be largely obvi-ated by oiling the stripping means, the .presence of oil' on casings is objectionable if the casing is to be printed since oil tends to mix With the ink and inhibit the drying of the ink.

When casings are dried in a hot atmosphere, the heat tends to render the fat in the casing, depositing oil on the surface which interferes with the drying of the ink. The objection to the use of hot air renders it necessary to employ cool air With a corresponding decrease in room capacity.

The present invention tends to overcome this objection to the employment of cool air by utiheader 8.

lizing the full volume of the drying chamber. The invention Will be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which similar reference characters in the several gures indicate similar elements.

Figure lisa sectional view of a drying room.

Figure 2 is a sectional View of the drying room shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken just below the ceiling of the drying room.

Figure 4 is a detail of an air pipeprovided with nozzles.

Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is a side View of a clamp which may be utilized for fastening a casing to an air nozzle.

Figure '7 is a plan View of the clamp shown in Figure 6.

Figure 8 discloses a manner of aflixinga casing to an air nozzle.

Figure 9 is a front View of a bottom clip and Weight. f

Figure 10 is a side view of the bottom clip and weight shown in Figure 9.

Figure 11 is a sectional View of a casing stretched by means of a ball Weight.

Figure 12 is a View, -partly in section, showing another modification of an: air nipple and nozzle with a casing in position.

Figure 13 is a detailed View, partly in section, of the nipple and nozzle shoWn in Figure 12.

Referring noW more particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3,v it Will be noted that the drying room is defined by side Walls I, 2, 3 and 4, floor 5 and ceiling 6. It is desirable to utilize a drying room having a ceiling height of about 12 to 15 feet in order to accommodate reasonably long casing lengths. l

Ination apparatus 1 is ailxed 'close to the ceiling and is the apparatus for supporting and inflating the casings. This apparatus consists of header 8 having auxiliary branch headers 9 each of which is provided with a valve IIJ so that each auxiliary header may be shut off from the main Each of the auxiliary headers 9 is provided with a series of nozzles I I, shown in the drawings as comprising a short .pipe nipple I2 fitted with a standard cap I3 through which has been drilled a small hole I4,-as Will be readily apparent by preference to Figure 5. The hole I4 is preferably about one-eighth to threesiX- teenths of an inch in diameter.

Main header 8 is supplied with compressed,y air at low pressure through any convenient form of the taper of cap 23. The ringis then dropped, Wedging the casing between the cap 23 and the ring.

A preferred nozzle arrangement is shown in I Figures 12 and 13. Pipe 9 is provided with a plu,- rality of small diameter tubes 26'having faced ends 21 and provided with va pin 28 tightly fitted in holes 29 and 30 drilled through tube 26. Ends f 3| and 32 of pin 28 extend beyond the outer surbe readily accommodated by the height 'o'f the" drying room; for example, 12 feet. OneendY of the wet casing is slipped overA a nozzle II` and fastened in place as by means of clamp I5 shown in Figures 6 and 7. The bottom of each casing may be sealed as by clip I6 to which is attached weight I1 as shown in Figures' 9 and 10.-" 'i After all the nozzles on one auxiliary` header havebeen provided with a casing, valvet I0 may beopened, permitting air in the auxiliary header 9 to 110W into each individual casing and fully inflate thecasing. Since both ends of each casing are closed, there is Very little air ow through the system although a small amount of leakage may occur by reason of small holes and the like .in the casing. This small amount of leakage is readily handled by the air compressor` system.

In the event that a casing develops Yexcessive leakage, a's by tearing, loss of substantial quantities of air from the system is prevented by the throttling action of small hole I4 in nozzle II. I-Iole I4 is large enough to admit more than the amount of air necessary to produce inflation in a tight casing, but is small enough to prevent a substantial reduction in air line pressure in the event a casing mounted on any particular nozzle becomes torn or is removed.

In order to facilitate the operations of filling ythe -drying room and removing dried casings, a

movable `platform I8 mounted upon Wheelsr I9 may be employed. If desired, the platform may be of the type shown in Figures 1 and 2, long enough to extend the full length oi` the room and face of tube 26. Nipple 33 is preferably fabricated from a light weight metal such as aluminum. Hole 34 in nipple 33 provides a loose t over the end of pipe 23. A rubber washer 35 inthe bottom'of hole 34 contacts machine face 21 of pipe 26 in order to seal the joint against leakage of low pressure air into the system.

Groove 36 is formed in the outside surface of arranged sothat it may be moved the entire width of the room. A platform of this type permits an operator'to mount the platform by means of ladder rungs 20 with a suflicient supply of casings and fastening devices to quickly attach a casing to each of the nozzles on one of the auxiliary headers. When an auxiliary header is completely loaded, the control valve I0 for that particular header is opened, the casings on that 'header inflated, and the drying operation commenced. The platform I8 is then moved slightly away from the rst line of casings and the next line hung. Air circulating fans 2I and 22 are provided to facilitate drying. Circulation may be assisted by use of curtains 42 suspended from rods 43. Exhaust vent 44 is provided With damper 45.

As soon as the casingsare dried on any auxiliary header, the control valve I0 of that header is closed and the casings removed.

The employment of weight I1, although not essential lto the drying of the casings, effectively holds casings straight and results in a better yield of straight casings suitable for printing. With a 12 foot beef middle, a one to two pound Weight is employed.

One means for attaching a casing to a nozzle is sho'Wn in Figure 8. In this modification, nipple I2 is provided with tapered cap 23 having air hole I4. One endof the casing is pulled up over Ycap 23 and threaded through the heavy ring 24 nipple 33 near its lower end, as clearly shown in y Figure 13. Casing 31 is firmly fastened to the 'nipple by any means,.such as a strong cord 38 tied around the casing at groove 36. A longitudinal slot 39 of sulcient width to accommodate a knife extends just underthe smallest diameter of groove 36 in order to permit ready insertion of a knife for cutting cord 39 for removal of the stub end of the casing after the casing has been dried.

In employing lthe apparatus shown-in Figures 12 and 13 in the drying of casings, an operators bench is equipped with supporting elements corresponding in size to tubes 26. The operator attaches a nipple 33 to each one of the supporting elements or brackets, which is done by slipping the nipple over the end of the bracket and giving it apart turn to lock slot 49 around a pin corresponding to pin 23. The operator then picks up a casing and with both hands free slips it over the end of the nipple and ties it in place ywith cord 38. The other end 'of the casing is closed with a clip or tied with a loop of cord left hangprovided with nipples, the casings are taken to Which has an inside bevel 25 corresponding to 75 the drying room and the nipples fastened to tubes 26 by' the simple operation of pushing the nipple over the tube and giving it a part turn to lock slot 49 on pin 28. The nipple is provided with hole I4 to permit communication between the air supply and the interior of the casing.

In' ordinary practice, the casings when dried are removed and soaked in water to overcome the tendency of the stub end of the casing to stick to the nipple.

When it is desired to re-use the nipple, it is mounted upon a bracket on the operators table, cords 38 cut with a knife kinserted in slot 39, the cut cords and the stub end of the casing discarded, and the operation of attaching a casing to the nipple repeated.

The present invention contemplates maintaining casings under constant air pressure during the drying period to compensate for loss of air through small openings in the casing wall. It will be apparent, therefore, that the present invention employs a novel method of drying casings, and provides a novel apparatus for carrying out the method.

I claim:

1. In a natural casing drying apparatus a source of constant air pressure, an air manifold connected therewith, which manifold is provided with auxiliary headers, control valves at each of said auxiliary headers, a plurality of nozzles in each of said auxiliary headers, said nozzles having an air outlet therein and means for securing the open ends of the casings over the nozzles.

2. In a natural casing drying apparatus a source of constant air pressure, an air manifold connected therewith, which manifold is provided with auxiliary headers, control valves at each of said auxiliary headers, a plurality of nozzles in each of said auxiliary headers, said nozzles having a relatively small aperture for the emission of compressed air and means for securing the open ends of the casings over the nozzles.

3. In a natural casing drying apparatus a source of constant low air pressure, an air manifold connected therewith, which manifold is provided with auxiliary headers, control valves at each of said auxiliary headers, a plurality of nozzles in each of said auxiliary headers, said nozzles having relatively small air outlets therein and means for securing the open ends of the casings over the nozzles.

4. In a natural casing drying apparatus a source of constant air pressure at a pressure of approximately twelve to eighteen inches of water, an air manifold connected therewith, which manifold is provided with auxiliary headers, control valves at each of said auxiliary headers, a plurality of nozzles in each of said auxiliary headers, each of said nozzles having an air passage therein of approximately three sixteenths inch diameter and means for securing the open ends of the casings over the nozzles.

5. An apparatus for drying natural casings, which tend to leak when inflated, comprising a manifold in communication with a low pressure compressed gas system, means in communication with said manifold adapted for injecting the gas into an open end of each casing, the other end of which is closed, to cause inflation thereof, said means containing openings of suicient smallness in relation tothe capacity of the compressed air to prevent a substantial reduction in pressure of the gas in the manifold in the event that excessive leakage occurs in one or more of said casings and means for securing the open ends of the casings over said openings.

6. An apparatus for drying natural casings comprising one or more headers in communicar tion with a common source of compressed air,

means for supplying an excess of compressed air to said headers under substantially constant pressure, nozzles in said headers for injecting air into the casings and small apertures in said nozzles, said apertures being small enough to prevent a substantial reduction in the air pressure in said headers in the event a casing mounted thereon develops a leak and means for securing the open ends of the casings over the nozzles. '7. An apparatus for drying natural casings, comprising a manifold, means for supplying an excess of compressed air to said manifold, one or more headers connected to said manifold, nozzles in said headers for injecting air into casings mounted thereon and orifices in said nozzles of sucient smallness to prevent a depletion of said supply of compressed air in said manifold in the event a casing mounted on one of Said nozzles develops a leak and means for securing the open ends of the casings over the nozzles.

CHARLES T. WALTER. 

